The outside perception and inside perception of Microsoft are so different. The view of Microsoft inside Microsoft is always kind of an underdog thing.

Because of its phantom nature, and despite elaborate defense mechanisms, the ego is very vulnerable and insecure, and it sees itself as constantly under threat. This, by the way, is the case even if the ego is outwardly very confident.

Human nature is not nearly as bad as it has been thought to be.

You say that you are my judge; I do not know if you are; but take good heed not to judge me ill, because you would put yourself in great peril.

The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant.

For as the eyes of bats are to the blaze of day, so is the reason in our soul to the things which are by nature most evident of all.

Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.

Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world.

The components of anxiety, stress, fear, and anger do not exist independently of you in the world. They simply do not exist in the physical world, even though we talk about them as if they do.

What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also.

It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by the reason.

People think I’m a celebrity. I’m not a celebrity.

I feel like everything we do comes down to how it looks. Even no branding is branding. For example, you had no face or image to put to my music at first. That was branding.

Considering their impact, you might expect mosquitoes to get more attention than they do. Sharks kill fewer than a dozen people every year, and in the U.S. they get a week dedicated to them on TV every year.

I’ve always felt like there was a lot of hype around me even when there wasn’t. I felt like everyone was talking about me even when no one was talking about me.

When Paul Allen and I started Microsoft over 30 years ago, we had big dreams about software. We had dreams about the impact it could have.

I don’t think the human mind can comprehend the past and the future. They are both just illusions that can manipulate you into thinking theres some kind of change.

I don’t have this feeling that 70 is really old.

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?

Bill Gates has always been a mentor and inspiration for me even before I knew him. Just growing up, I admired how Microsoft was mission-focused.

Faith certainly tells us what the senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see; it is above, not against them.

If all men knew what others say of them, there would not be four friends in the world.

A true artist is expected to be all that is noble-minded, and this is not altogether a mistake; on the other hand, however, in what a mean way are critics allowed to pounce upon us.

The fellow that can only see a week ahead is always the popular fellow, for he is looking with the crowd. But the one that can see years ahead, he has a telescope but he can’t make anybody believe that he has it.

I confused things with their names: that is belief.

I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be.

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.

Men show their character in nothing more clearly than what they think laughable.

In too many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear. Through initiatives like My Brother’s Keeper, I’m personally committed to changing both perception and reality.

The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.

When I was in my 40s, Microsoft was my primary activity.

Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

My aim is to make the poor look rich and the rich look poor.

There’s strong data that, within companies, the No. 1 reason for ethical violations is the pressure to meet expectations, sometimes unrealistic expectations.

Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.

When you’re young, you look at television and think, there’s a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that’s not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want.

Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.

I don’t really care how the Patriots are perceived, truthfully. I really don’t. I really don’t. Look, if you’re a fan of our team, you root for us, you believe in our team, and you believe in what we’re trying to accomplish. If you’re not a fan of us, you have a different opinion.

Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I’m referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods presence in his life. He is the 21st century man.

Memories are thoughts that arise. They’re not realities. Only when you believe that they are real, then they have the power over you. But when you realize it’s just another thought arising about the past, then you can have a spacious relationship with that thought. The thought no longer has you in its grip.

Optimism means better than reality; pessimism means worse than reality. I’m a realist.

I don’t care if people think I am an overactor, as long as they enjoy what I do. People who think that would call Van Gogh an overpainter.

We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.

No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

I don’t want people to think of me as sexy.

Not only is there but one way of doing things rightly, but there is only one way of seeing them, and that is, seeing the whole of them.

No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person’s enemies say about him.

There’s no reality except the one contained within us. That’s why so many people live an unreal life. They take images outside them for reality and never allow the world within them to assert itself.

The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world.

Memory is the way we keep telling ourselves our stories – and telling other people a somewhat different version of our stories.

In my experience, many people confuse being cowardly with being nice.

I don’t see myself as beautiful, because I can see a lot of flaws. People have really odd opinions. They tell me I’m skinny, as if that’s supposed to make me happy.

Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.

The eyes are more exact witnesses than the ears.

To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.

Some people feel affronted when something they thought to be true doesn’t happen. If that’s the case, then your sense of risk is much higher, and that leads to risk aversion. You need to be able to be comfortable in uncertainty.

I don’t mind making jokes, but I don’t want to look like one.

The ‚I think‘ which Kant said must be able to accompany all my objects, is the ‚I breathe‘ which actually does accompany them.